The Wicker King (The Wicker King, #1)

by K. Ancrum

[leahrosereads]

You know I say it, but then I read one, and I give it 5 stars...but I'll say it again. I don't really enjoy contemporaries. But when I do, they tend to be the harder hitting ones. So maybe I'll stick with these type of novels going forward.

THE WICKER KING is a spectacular story. August and Jack are incredibly well written characters that provide for some decent gay representation. (I think. You may want to check for an own voices review to confirm). And while their love and friendship is definitely more on the abusive spectrum, it's all consuming and understandable based on their living situations. These two young men are completely neglected and only have each other. It's powerful, even if it's problematic.

The fantastical elements to this story really added a whole new level to what I thought this was going to be about. Those elements of what is real or not made this story even more special.

While I really liked the stylized pages to the book, some of the later chapters were a tad hard to read for my eyes. I just added a second light though and that helped me adjust to it all a bit better.

I definitely would recommend this to anyone that likes hard hitting contemporaries with/without fantastical elements. Definitely going to keep my eye on Kayla Ancrum in the future!